By Reggie Gay

Employers that need workers often find themselves inundated with applicants — especially in today’s down economy. Some employers have even resorted to limiting the applicant pool to currently employed individuals as a way of dealing with a deluge of resumes. But that can be a legally shaky strategy.

by Reggie Gay
Q: We have a job applicant who worked for us approximately six years ago. There’s nothing negative in her file, but there were some issues with her job performance. Neither of her former supervisors wants to hire her back. She has applied several times and has received rejection letters, but she keeps reapplying. [...]

In Tuesday’s election, four states — Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah — approved ballot measures that would guarantee employees the right to secret-ballot voting in union elections. We decided to ask employment law attorneys in each of the four states — all members of the Employers Counsel Network — about the outcome of [...]

A federal judge blocked parts of Arizona’s new immigration law on Wednesday, the day before the rest of the measure went into effect. But legal challenges are already flying and many are waiting to see what happens next.
Last year, a record number of immigration-related laws were considered and passed in the 50 states. Over 222 [...]

by Rita M. McKinney
Supervisors can be an employer’s frontline of protection against costly discrimination claims — if they’re armed with the right information and training. Here are 11 important things every supervisor needs to know.
Basic Training for Supervisors – easy-to-read guides to avoid legal hazards, covering more than 17 areas of supervisor training

In discrimination cases filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, first, the employee must establish a prima facie (minimally sufficient) case of discrimination. Once he does that, the burden shifts to the employer to produce evidence that he was rejected or someone else was preferred for a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason. [...]

by D. Michael Henthorne
In this second part of a two-part series, I examine the unusual figurative relationship between union-free policy statements, the human nature of employees and employers, and a neglected utility closet.
In the first article, I described a large utility closet located on the carport adjacent to my house. Once an ideal and highly [...]

by D. Michael Henthorne
I’ve been asked to address a group of nursing managers in one of South Carolina’s leading hospital systems on avoiding labor unions and recognizing union-organizing activities. Despite growing up the son of a Teamster (my father was a truck driver), for most of the last 29 years I have lived in [...]

Although there’s no sure-fire method to prevent a disgruntled employee from filing a lawsuit against an employer, there’s a readily available tool that can help you defeat the majority of lawsuits: documentation.
Employment lawsuits often are won or lost on the soundness and completeness of an employer’s recordkeeping practices. Here are a few tips to ensure [...]

The following are five important topics to help you do strategic planning to improve your company’s HR functions and put those plans into action.
Audit your policies and practices with the Employment Practices Self-Audit Workbook